Introduction

The datasets used for this report are CSV files from Kaggle named IMDB Movie dataset from and Highest_Holywood_Grossing_Movies. The datasets reflect movie sales.

The links to the data: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/harshitshankhdhar/imdb-dataset-of-top-1000-movies-and-tv-shows https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/sanjeetsinghnaik/top-1000-highest-grossing-movies


Problem Statement and Questions

To understand movie industry sales trends and the role distributors play.

Distributor

  • Worldwide sales per distributor
  • Top 10 sales per year per distributor
  • Top directors per distributor
  • Lowest sales of distributors

We can begin by examining an overview with this chart and graph.

Number of Movies Released Over the Last 30 Years per Year

Year Released Movies
2014 12
2009 10
2010 10
2012 8
2001 7
2019 7
2008 6
2015 6
2016 6
2017 6
2018 6
2002 5
2003 5
2006 5
2013 5
1994 4
1999 4
2004 4
1995 3
2005 3
2007 3
1997 2
2000 2
2011 2
1998 1

It is indicated that 2009, 2010, and 2014 released the most movies per year.


Now that we know what years released the most movies, we wanted to plot domestic and international sales yearly. We were expecting the data to show us the same trends.


The data told a different story.


We investigated further by only looking into domestic sales.

Interestingly, 2009 was the highest-grossing year in domestic sales, followed by 2013, even though we had the most movie releases in 2012.


When we took a look at international sales…


International Sales

The data showed 2014 and 2009 as the most lucrative year in sales.


Noting the difference in movie release years versus the highest-grossing years prompted us to look into which distributor had higher sales per budget.


We decided to look more closely into domestic sales and budgets to identify trends.

Domestic sales and budget

Our findings suggest that a specific budget range could be identified as a strategic goal for the industry. While there were some outliers, the data indicated that there is no need to exceed the budget to achieve higher sales.


When we plotted the same data for international sales and budgets similar conclusions were reached.

International Sales and Budget


Next, we wanted to compare domestic sales to international sales.

Movie Name Domestic Sales International sales
Avatar 785221649 2138484377
Avengers: Endgame 858373000 1941066100
Captain America: Civil War 408084349 746962067
Skyfall 304360277 838111018
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens 936662225 1134647993
The Avengers 623357910 897180626
The Dark Knight Rises 448149584 633020241
The Lion King 543638043 1119437358
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 379427292 768206541
Titanic 674292608 1590450697

Correlation Opening Weekend and Total Sales


Movies depend on their distribution. So, we wanted to identify our largest distributor.

Distribution

We concluded that Walt Disney Studios was our largest worldwide distributor.


We wanted to know which year each distributor had reported the highest sales. To narrow our search, we limited the dataset to only list the top 10 sales.

Top 10 Sales per Year per Distributor

Distributor Year Released Total Sales
DreamWorks 2010 494879471
DreamWorks Distribution 2002 352114312
DreamWorks Distribution 2002 181001478
DreamWorks Distribution 2001 488441368
DreamWorks Distribution 2000 503162313
DreamWorks Distribution 1999 356296601
DreamWorks Distribution 1998 482349603
Fox Searchlight 2013 187733202
Fox Searchlight 2010 329398046
Fox Searchlight 2008 378410542
Lionsgate 2019 312897920
Lionsgate 2016 471977336
Lionsgate 2016 180563636
Miramax 2003 180906076
Miramax 2001 209960527
Miramax 1994 213928762
New Line Cinema 2003 1147633833
New Line Cinema 2002 947944270
New Line Cinema 2001 898204420
New Line Cinema 1995 327333559
Paramount Pictures 2018 791657398
Paramount Pictures 2016 203388186
Paramount Pictures 2014 703170837
Paramount Pictures 2013 467365246
Paramount Pictures 2013 406878233
Paramount Pictures 2010 294805697
Paramount Pictures 2010 252276927
Paramount Pictures 2009 385680446
Paramount Pictures 2008 585796247
Paramount Pictures 2008 335802786
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 2019 218843645
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 2018 384298736
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 2013 218791811
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 2012 1142471295
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 2011 232617430
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 2010 224920375
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 2006 616505162
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 2006 307127625
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) 1997 314178011
The Weinstein Company 2012 426074373
The Weinstein Company 2012 236412453
The Weinstein Company 2010 484068861
The Weinstein Company 2009 321457747
TriStar Pictures 2017 226945087
TriStar Pictures 2009 210888950
Twentieth Century Fox 2019 225508210
Twentieth Century Fox 2018 910809311
Twentieth Century Fox 2018 785896609
Twentieth Century Fox 2017 619179950
Twentieth Century Fox 2016 782836791
Twentieth Century Fox 2016 235956898
Twentieth Century Fox 2015 630620818
Twentieth Century Fox 2015 532950503
Twentieth Century Fox 2014 746045700
Twentieth Century Fox 2014 710644566
Universal Pictures 2019 384579472
Universal Pictures 2018 321752656
Universal Pictures 2015 201634991
Universal Pictures 2010 543157985
Universal Pictures 2007 444100035
Universal Pictures 2007 269755430
Universal Pictures 2006 186003591
Universal Pictures 2004 290835269
Universal Pictures 2002 214034224
Universal Pictures 2001 316791257
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2019 2799439100
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2019 1073841394
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2017 863756051
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2017 855301806
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2016 1155046416
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2015 2071310218
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2015 858848019
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2014 773350147
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2014 714421503
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2014 657869686
Warner Bros.  2019 1074458282
Warner Bros.  2018 436233122
Warner Bros.  2017 527016307
Warner Bros.  2017 267770708
Warner Bros.  2015 380080290
Warner Bros.  2014 468266122
Warner Bros.  2014 370541256
Warner Bros.  2013 748049949
Warner Bros.  2012 1081169825
Warner Bros.  2012 232325503

Walt Disney and other distributors showed their most profitable year in 2019.


As we tried to identify what could make a movie more profitable, we decided to look at the top directors per distributor. We wanted to know how many movies each director produced and who they used as their distributor.

Top Directors per Distributor

It was unsurprising to find Anthony Russo, who used Walt Disney Studios as his distributor, directing most of the films. James Cameron came in second, using Twenty Century Fox and Paramount Pictures to distribute his films.


Lowest Sales of Distributors


Summary

In our analysis, we found that the number of movies released in the year will not directly indicate a high grossing year in movie sales both internationally or domestically. We also concluded that staying within the budget is the most financially beneficial practice since being over budget did not correlate to higher grossing sales. The number of films a director produces is as significant as who they use to distribute the film. Walt Disney Studios has the farthest reach; therefore, it is an excellent option for distribution.

It is important to consider that the data did not measure or account for numerous factors beyond anyone’s control, like weather, social, or economic factors that have impacted movie sales.